Empowering people to create personalised emergency care plans

Mid Yorkshire NHS Teaching Trust is encouraging more people to consider creating a ReSPECT plan.

ReSPECT, which stands for Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment, allows patients to create their own personalised plan for their care in emergency situations.

The plans are created through conversations between a person, their representatives and health care professionals to better understand what matters most to them in their treatment.

As patients are often unable to make decisions about their priorities of care or treatment in an emergency, discussing what they would want to happen in advance is important.

Sarah Smith, Matron for Quality at Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust, said: “ReSPECT plans can be for anyone, but they are particularly important for people thinking about their end-of-life care, those with complex medical needs and people who are at risk of sudden deterioration or cardiac arrest.

“Plans are specific to you and your wishes and will help ensure you get the treatment that you want should you suffer a medical emergency.”

“The plan stays with you, and the guidance detailed on it can be used to inform clinical decision making by any medical professional treating you, including ambulance crews, home care staff, out of hours doctors and hospital staff.

“This means you can feel confident and empowered that the medical staff looking after you are fully aware of your wishes about what treatments you do, or do not want to receive.”

Since the Trust adopted ReSPECT in July last year, over 2000 people have created plans.

They can be created at any time, with your GP, other medical professionals in the community, or in hospital. The plans are not legally binding and can be revisited and changed if your circumstances change.

More information about ReSPECT can be found on our website at www.midyorks.nhs.uk/respect

You can also find more information at www.resus.org.uk/respect